Wonder how light these are?

[Rad]

BBC NEWS | Africa | From bush to bike - a bamboo revolution

Bamboo framed mountain bikes. Surely lighter than the steel or alloy equivalent?

 

[Mussels]

I need a frame and I'd love one of those but I'm not sure how it would cope in our damp climate.
Google shows loads of news reports but not anywhere to buy them, a slight flaw in their marketing maybe?

 

[rog_london]

I need a frame and I'd love one of those but I'm not sure how it would cope in our damp climate.

You might find that after you'd had it for a week it would have grown too big for you.....

Rog.

 

[frank9755]

If you do get one, watch out for hungry pandas!

 

[Gepida uk]

LoL.... What a crazy idea what else will they come up with next,

 

[fcurran]

Bamboo bikes come to the UK | Bicycle business | News by BikeBiz

They are available now in the UK, SRP for a full bike is £3000.

Regards

FrankC

 

[Rad]

Spookily I saw this on the CTC site and was coming here to post it up. £3K's a bit bleedin' extreme though innit?

 

[Barnowl]

Yeah I wonder if they're using the same frames being built in Africa for £290.

 

[Mussels]

Yeah I wonder if they're using the same frames being built in Africa for £290.

That's quite a markup but if they stick a fairtrade label on it then people won't question the high price.

 

[Alex728]

Yeah I wonder if they're using the same frames being built in Africa for £290.

the report says the £3000 bikes are built in the USA in California...

 

[rog_london]

They're 'built by hand' in North America according to the web write up, and there is absolutely no reason to think that any part of the construction is even remotely connected with Africa. I expect that the idea of a bamboo frame would be rather hard to patent, and bamboo is available from a great many parts of the world (South America, for a start).

I think they're grossly over-priced as being of some novelty value - but if the engineering turns out to be sound I'm sure the price will drop like a stone as construction requires limited engineering facilities, and so is well suited to local production in poor countries.

Rog.

 

[Alex728]

They're 'built by hand' in North America according to the web write up, and there is absolutely no reason to think that any part of the construction is even remotely connected with Africa. I expect that the idea of a bamboo frame would be rather hard to patent, and bamboo is available from a great many parts of the world (South America, for a start).

I think they're grossly over-priced as being of some novelty value - but if the engineering turns out to be sound I'm sure the price will drop like a stone as construction requires limited engineering facilities, and so is well suited to local production in poor countries.

Rog.

I think two sets of bikes are being confused here.

The "greenwashed" ovepriced ones made by and sold to yuppie "yoghurt weaver" types, and a lower cost model genuinely being made by poor Africans to provide transport in these nations... the ones in the BBC report also appeared to be using forks etc from other recovered bikes and "lower tech" production facilities

 

[rog_london]

I'm not confused - I was aware of the work being done in Africa on bamboo-framed bikes. I just don't think these are even remotely connected with the African project. They're American throughout (in my opinion) and that's where the pricing comes from. Whatever the market will stand - and American culture is for the most part geared towards paying a high price for 'toys' on the basis that if it's cheap it must be rubbish.

Rog.

 

[Rad]

Actually the story Frank posted is different to the one I was going to post.
What's stopping the bamboo bike from shooting into the mainstream | Matthew Sparkes | Environment | guardian.co.uk

Gentlemen: Fill your boots.

 

[Tiberius]

Don't you just love the media and journalists.

The two stories are connected. They have the same guy at the heart of them and I suspect they both come from the same press release.

But in one the bikes are built in Zambia from locally grown bamboo, in the other they take Taiwanese bamboo and make the frames in California.

Nick

 

[Alex728]

and conveniently it seems more difficult to obtain the cheaper Zambian bikes - I'd rather support an African worker in his/her country than the already affluent Americans... That said it may be a very new local venture so they don't have enough resources/logistics to sell to foreigners in the West which is fair enough I suppose!

Someones posted a guide on how to build your own anyway... the prices quoted in the comment section are a bit more affordable...

How to Build a Bamboo Bicycle

 

[Barnowl]

Pity really. The bikes looks OK if you like the organic look. They sort of look a bit low cost though. Imagine the conversation. "Well erhh yeah it cost £3K "
Love to try one.

 

[Kramer]

Build your own for £495.00 at a weekend workshop, or £280.00 at home.

http://bamboobicycleclub.org/

 

[Kramer]

Here's another option if you're in Germany: -

http://ozoncyclery.com/workshop.html

Professional Workshop €800. 8 days, including material

Fastest Time Workshop €450. 3 days, including material

Base Price Workshop all day €100. Half a day €60, plus material